Cleaning device



y 1965 E. THORNE-SYMMONS 3,195,157

CLEANING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 1, 1963 E Q R s m M N & N mmQ. Q nmmu a n r11? Q E a m m Fl; 9 Q 0 July 20, 1965 E. THORNE-SYMMONS3,195,157

CLEANING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 1, 1965 United States Patent3,195,157 CLEANING DEVICE Eric Thornc-Symmons, London, England, assignorto Ability Products Limited, London, England, a British company FiledJuly 1, 1963, Ser. No. 291,764 Claims priority, application GreatBritain, .luiy 6, 1952, 13,299/62 7 Claims. (Cl. 15-49) This inventionrelates to cleaning devices and in particular to devices primarilyintended to he used for ancil- =lary cleaning in conjunction with othercleaning operations.

Articles of laundry frequently contain stubborn stains or dirt which canonly be removed by hard rubbing. For example, lines of dirt around theedges of shirt cuffs and collars are only partially removed by modernwashing appliances whether domestic or commercial and at present aseparate hand rubbing of these articles is necessary to achieveeffective cleaning.

It is the main object of this invention to provide a cleaning devicewhich will enable the removal of stubborn stains or dirt referred toabove.

According to the present invention there is provided a cleaning devicecomprising a rotatable member having a rubbing surface for cleaning anarticle, said member being mounted so that the rubbing surface normallylies within an annular shield which is displaceable in relation to themember to expose the rubbing surface to enable cleaning of an article totake place.

In order that the invention may more readily be understood, oneembodiment thereof will now be described, by way of example only, andwith reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view on the line 1-1 of FIG. 2of a cleaning device constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the cleaning device illus trated in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view on the line IIIHI of FIG.2.

Referring to the drawings, a cleaning device in accordance with theinvention comprises a housing 1 which may be moulded in a syntheticplastics material or which may be formed in metal, for examplealuminium, and which has attached thereto in any convenient manner abase 2 provided with four rubber or other friction blocks 3 which enablethe device to he stood on a horizontal surface and which assiststability. The housing 1 is shaped so as to form a cleaning liquidreservoir 4 which is closed by a removable lid 5 apart from an opening 6within which is a displaceable shield 7. The lid 5 is provided with acylindrical part 8 which is integral with the remainder of the lid andaround this cylindrical part 8 are a series of slots 9 through whichpass downwardly projecting lugs 10 on the shield 7. A spring 11 isprovided between the upper periphery 12 of the cylindrical part 8 and ashoulder 13 formed by enlarged head 14 of the shield 7. This spring 11urges the shield 7 upwardly as seen in FIG. 1 so that stops 15 abut theunderneath of the cylindrical part and prevent the shield 7 becomingdetached from the lid 5. These st-ops v15 may be attached to the shield7 by clips 16.

It will be appreciated that the shield 7 can be displaced downwardly asseen in FIG. 1 against the action of spring 11 and FIG. 1 shows thenormal position for the shield 7 when the device is not in operation.

Lying within the shield 7 is a rotatable member which, in thisembodiment, is in the form of a brush 17 having a brush backing 18 andbristles 19 which define a rubbing surface 20, which, as will be seenfrom FIG. 1,

3,l5,l57 Patented July 20 1965 lies normally within the shield 7 but, ondisplacement of the shield 7 in the downward direction against theaction of spring 11, is exposed to enable cleaning of an article such asclothing to take place.

The backing 18 of brush 17 has a boss 21 and has a bore 22 therethroughto enable cleaning liquid from reservoir 4 to find its way to therubbing surface 243. The boss 21 has two oppositely disposed studs 23which locate in slots 24 in the upper end of a shaft 25 having an axialbore 26 therethrough. The purpose of these stud-s 23 is to enable thebrush to be located on the shaft 25 but at the same time enable easywithdrawal of the brush for cleaning or repair or replacement purposes.

The shaft 25 passes through a mounting pillar 27 which locates inannular ridges 28 integral with the reservoir 4. Within the pillar 27 isan inlet 29 covered by a grill 30 which to some extent filters cleaningliquid contained in reservoir 4. Liquid which passes through inlet 29finds its way into-pumping chamber 31 and eventually is pumped out atoutlet 32 from which, via duct 33 leading to annular chamber 34, thecleaning liquid can find its way through aperture 35 and into the bore26 of shaf 25.

Within the pumping chamber 31 is a ring 36 which may be of a syntheticplastics material with a low coefiicient of friction and within thisring 36 and in contact therewith is a disc 37 which is preferably ofmetal and which is fixed to and rotates with shaft 25. This disc 3-7 ismounted on shaft 25 eccen-trically so as to effect the pumping action.The ring 36 is provided with an integral peripheral projection 38 whichis slidin-gly positioned in a recess 39 in the pumping chamber 31.

It will be appreciated that, as shaft 25 is rotated, the disc 37 willrotate with it but being mounted eccentrically on shaft 25 the ring 36will be caused to sweep out a volume indicated at 40 in FIG. 2 whichwill, in effect, rotate around the periphery of pumping chamber 31. Inthis manner liquid taken in at inlet 29 will be carried round thepumping chamber thus forming volume 0 and will be discharged underpressure through outlet 32. This liquid will then be force-d through thebore 26 in shaft 25 and will eventually find its way to the brush .1 7and rubbing surface 29.

Positioned immediately below the pump is a metal disc 41 which acts as athrust plate. The disc 37 is firmly fixed .to shaft 25 and bears againstthis thrust plate 41 when pressure is applied to brush 17 during acleaning operation. Thus, the entire thrust through shaft 25 is taken onthis thrust plate 41.

. Between the pump and the brush 17, the shaft 25 is provided with alay-pass aperture 42 and there is also a corresponding aperture (notshown) in a column 43 through which the shaft 25 passes. Between anupper enlarged portion 44 of column 43 and the upper periphery of pillar27 is located a sleeve 45 which has a knurled or serrated gripping ridge46 to enable the sleeve 45 to be turned around the shaft 25 so that afurther apertur-e 47 in the sleeve 45 can be brought into or out ofregister with the aperture 42 to enable liquid pumped through bore 26 ofshaft 25 to by-pass the brush 17 and pass immediately back into thereservoir 4. Thus, by adjustment of the position of sleeve 45 the amountof cleaning liquid which finds its way to brush 17 may be varied.

Towards the lower end of shaft 25, as it passes through the reservoir 4,there is provided a seal 48 and this may be in the form of any wellknown type of seal to prevent the cleaning liquid in reservoir 4 fromfinding its way into housing 1.

At the extreme lower end of shaft 25 is a pulley wheel 49 around whichpasses a V-belt 56 which connects pulley wheel 49 to a further pulleywheel 51 mounted r on shaft 52 of an electric motor 53. On this shaft 52is also mounted a fan 54 drawing in air through louvre 55 in the baseplate -2 for cooling the electric motor 53. The electric motor 53 ismounted on the outside of res ervoir 4- by a spring plate 56 and thetension in V -belt 50 is determined by the setting of a plate 57 havingan elongated slot 58 through which passes a screw 59 into the housing ofmotor 53.

The electric motor 53 is fed with electrical power via electricalconductors (not shown) through a microswitch 60 and this microswitch 60is'operated by a cranked lever 61 one end 62 ofwhich lies immediatelyadjacent the lower part of shield 7 and the other end 63 of which liesadjacent the microswitch 60. The lever 61 passes through the reservoir 4and passes through grommet 64 which allows the'lever 61 to pivot aboutgrommet 64 and at the same time provides a seal so that cleaning liquidin reservoir 4 does not find its way into housing 1. a

The device basically operates in the followingmanner. The reservoir 4 isfilled to a given level with cleaning liquid and the lid 5 together withthe shield 7 which is carried thereby is located in position, The deviceis connected to the main power supply and the article of clothing to becleaned is laid across the open top of shield 7. The article to becleaned is then pressed down wardly and therefore the shield 7 will movedownwardly in relation to brush 17 so that the rubbing surface 20 ofbrush 17 will contact the underside of the article to be cleaned andcleaning will take place. Just before the rubbing surface 20 contactsthe article to be cleaned shield 7 will have contacted'the end 62 oflever 61 and the micro-' switch 60 will have been operated. This allowselectrical power to be fed to motor 53 and consequently shaft and brush17 will be driven. Due to rotation of shaft 25 the pump 36 will operateand cleaning liquid from reservoir 4 will be fed through the bore 25 ofshaft 25 up to the rubbing surface 20. As soon as cleaning has beencompleted the article is removed from the top of shield 7 and, under theinfluence of spring 11, shield 7 returns to its original position. Thisallows lever 61 to return to its original position, thus disengaging end63 from microswitch 6i) and cutting off the supply of electrical powerto motor 53. The brush 17 thus stops revolving. Each time the shield 7is depressed liquid is pumped up to the rubbing surface 20 but each timethe shield 7 returns to its normal position under the influence ofspring 11 the liquid can drain, back into the reservoir 4. Duringoperation, the shield 7 has the efiect of preventing spraying of theliquid outside. the device but even ifv some liquid does find its wayover the upper rim of shield 7 it can drain back into reservoir 4viaslots 9.

A minor modification can be fitted to the device above described in thatit may be desirable to clean only a very v 7 small area of the articleand the entire area of the rubbing surface 20 may be too large. Toachieve this, a cover plate having a small aperture may be positionedover the top of shield 7 so that when the device is operated and theshield 7 is depressed only that part of the brush which is immediatelybelow the aperture in the cover plate will be effective in cleaning thearticle. This cover plate may be pivoted to shield! or may be a loosefit over' the top of the shield 7. j V

Although the device has been above described in relation to a portablecleaning device which would be used as an ancillary piece of apparatusin conjunction with a normal washing appliance, it is possible toincorporate the essential features of the device according to thepresent invention into an existing washing device.

Also, it is possible for the device instead ,ofbeing portable to befixed to a bench and a considerable number of these devices may be fixedto a single bench each device to be operated by a single operator. Asingle motor may be designed to operate all the devices bysuitableclutch arrangements and, if desired, operation of the devicesmay be by a foot pedal.

It may be possible to provide other modifications in that the reservoiras described above may be dispensed with and cleaning liquid, which maybe a so-called dry cleaning liquid, or normal washing liquid may beprovided in a cartridge which can be attached to the housing in anysuitable manner.

The device in accordance with the invention may be used in laundrettesand in these cases it may be prefer able to associate the device with acoin operated mechanism which would dispense a given amount of cleaningliquid or alternatively enable the machine to be run for a given lengthof time.

I claim: f

1. A cleaning device comprising a casing; a rotatable member carried bysaid casing and having a rubbing surface for cleaning an article; ashaft mounted for operative rotation, with said rotatable member; powermeans for efiecting operative rotation of said shaft and said rotatablemember; a displaceable shield within which said rubbing surface normallylies, saidfshield being in the form of a cylinder open at both ends andbeing capable of displacement to a position which exposes said rubbingsurface to enable cleaning of an article to take place; a liquidreservoir beneath the rotatable member for the reception of cleaningliquid, a pump for supplying cleaning liquid to said rubbing surface;and switch means for actuating said powermeans.

2. A cleaning device comprising a casing; a rotatable member carried bysaid casing and having a rubbing surface for cleaning an article; ashaft mounted for operative rotation with said rotatable member andhaving an axial bore therethrough; power means for effecting operativerotation of said shaft and said rotatable member; a displaceable shieldwithin which said rubbing surface lies when said shield is in a firstposition, said shield being capable of displacement to a second positionwhich exposes said rubbing surface to enable cleaning of an article totake place; a liquid reservoir beneath the rotatable member for thereception of cleaning liquid; a pump driven by the said shaft forsupplying cleaning liquid to said rubbing surface; an inlet from saidpump to said bore in said shaft; and switch means for actuating saidpower means-when saidlshield is displaced from said first position tosaid second position.

3. A cleaning device as claimed in claim 2, in which said pump includesa ring eccentrically positioned around said shaft and housed in apumping chamber, with which said inlet and said outlet communicate, forpumping liquid from said reservoir to said rubbing surface.

4. A cleaning device'as claimed in claim 2, in which said pump includesa ring eccentrically positioned around said shaft and housed in apumping chamber with which said inlet and said outlet communicate, saidring having an integral peripheral projection slidingly positioned in aa recess in said pumping chamber, said ring surrounding and in contactwith an. eccentric disc mounted on said shaft for rotation therewith.

5. A cleaing device comprising a casing; a rotatable member carried bysaid casing andhaving a rubbing surface for cleaning an article; a shaftmounted for operative rotation with said rotatable member and having anaxial bore therethrough; power means for effecting operative rotation ofsaid shaft and said rotatable member; a displaceable shield within whichsaid rubbing surface lies when said shield is in a first position, saidshield being capable of displacement to a second position which exposessaid rubbing surface to enable cleaning of an article to take place; aliquid reservoir beneath said rotatable member for the receptionofcleaning liquid; a pump driven by said shaft for supplying cleaningliquid to said rubbing surface, said shaft having a radial aperturedisposed between said pump and said rubbing surface, the effective areaof said radial aperture being variable to by-pass liquid being pumpedthrough the bore of the shaft and prevent a proportion of the liquidfrom reaching said rubbing surface; an inlet from said pump to said borein said shaft; and switch means for actuating said power means when saidshield is displaced from said first position to said second position.

6. A cleaning device as claimed in claim 5, in which an adjustablesleeve surrounds said radial aperture, said sleeve having a furtheraperture capable of being moved into and out of register with saidaperture in said shaft.

7. A portable cleaning device comprising a housing; an electric motordisposed within said housing; an opentopped liquid reservoir formed bypart of said housing; a lid which closes said reservoir, said lid havingan opening therein; a displaceable shield disposed within said opening,said shield being in the form of a cylinder open at both ends and beingspring-loaded to a first position and displaceable to a second positionin which it is vertically disposed; a rotatable circular brush having arubbing surface disposed Within said shield when in its first position;a shaft operatively connected to said brush for rotation therewith, saidshaft having an axial bore therethrough; a pump mounted on said shaft,said pump being operated on rotation of said shaft; said electric motorbeing in driving connection with said shaft; a micro-switch inelectrical connection with said motor; and a cranked lever one end ofwhich lies immediately below said shield and the other end of which liesadjacent said micro-switch so that on movement of said shield, againstsaid spring loading, from said first position to a second position,thereby exposing the rubbing surface of said brush the cranked leveractuates said micro-switch to energize and drive said motor.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,166,482 1/16Reichc 15-29 1,299,785 4/19 Sartor 15-29 1,624,758 4/27 Powell et a1.15-28 X 1,643,882 9/27 Faiver 1528 1,660,852 2/28 Toney 15-75 1,706,3023/29 Leavy 15--75 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,281,617 12/61 France.

952,471 11/56 Germany.

CHARLES A. WILLMUTI-I, Primary Examiner.

1. A CLEANING DEVICE COMPRISING A CASING; A ROTATABLE MEMBER CARRIED BYSAID CASING AND HAVING A RUBBING SURFACE FOR CLEANING AN ARTICLES; ASHAFT MOUNTED FOR OPERATIVE ROTATION WITH SAID ROTATABLE MEMBER; POWERMEANS FOR EFFECTING OPERATIVE ROTATION OF SAID SHAFT AND SAID ROTATABLEMEMBER; A DISPLACEABLE SHIELD WITHIN WHICH SAID RUBBING SURFACE NORMALLYLIES, SAID SHIELD BEING IN THE FORM OF A CYLINDER OPEN AT BOTH ENDS ANDBEING CAPABLE OF DISPLACEMENT TO A POSITION WHICH EXPOSES SAID RUBBINGSURFACE TO ENABLE CLEANING OF AN ARTICLE TO TAKE PLACE; A LIQUIDRESERVOIR BENEATH THE ROTATABLE MEMBER FOR THE RECEPTION OF CLEANINGLIQUID, A PUMP FOR SUPPLYING CLEANING LIQUID